


Grief

by Blood_On_Glass



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aiden - Freeform, Angst, Death, Emetophilia, Emmett - Freeform, Grief, M/M, OC, OMC - Freeform, Sickness, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 23:04:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11838864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blood_On_Glass/pseuds/Blood_On_Glass
Summary: The day Emmett lost his father, was the day Aiden truly felt useless.





	Grief

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Sick Days on Tumblr, and the challenge was to write a character getting sick for some other reason than a general illness such as the flu, cold, etc. So, I decided the reason Emmett would get sick, would be because of grief.

It wasn’t until after the funeral when Emmett started to finally show signs that he wasn’t near as okay as he wanted everyone to believe. For the past week, Aiden had been watching Emmett with close eyes, waiting for the right time to finally say something. After being in Emmett’s life for so long, Aiden knew that there was always a right time to open his mouth, and a wrong time. Emmett grieved in stages and during the first few, it was best not to bring anything up because, depending on the stage, it was either met by denial and a joke or defensiveness and anger. 

The first stage was always the nonchalant, unbelievable facade. Aiden probably hated this one the most because of how unhealthy it was. Whenever something happened, for the first couple of days, Emmett would pretend to not be phased by it. Aiden would try and comfort him only to be met with a chuckle and a ‘I’m fine, sweetheart’ followed by a stupid jest. 

The second stage was always frustration. The facade would slowly be slipping and anyone who dared to comment on it would be snapped. If pushed too far, Emmett would shove a person up against the wall and get in their face, threatening that if they bring up the problem again, they would ‘be sorry’. It was an empty threat of course, but still managed to get most everyone off his back. That is, until stage three at least. 

Exhaustion. That was Emmett’s primary state during the third and final stage before the breakdown. During this period of time, which usually took about a week to get to, he showed clear signs that he was not near as fine as he wanted everyone to believe. If confronted, he would either not reply at all, give a half-hearted shrug, or say something like, ‘I don’t know, I’m really tired. Can we talk about it later?’. Aiden knew during this stage, minimal comfort was acceptable such as backrubs and forehead kisses, but silence was still appreciated. 

Stage three also happened to be the one Emmett was in during the funeral. Throughout the service, Aiden rubbed Emmett’s back and occasionally pressed a gentle kiss to his temple. Most of the people who gave eulogies were fellow officers and Aiden could tell Emmett paid no attention to any of the words that were being spoken. 

Eventually the service ended and everyone, including Emmett’s family cleared out before sunset. Aiden stayed with Emmett at the cemetery, rubbing his back and sitting with him. Now, it was completely dark out, the only light source being the moon that shined a little bit of light down on them. Aiden was usually a be-in-bed-by-nine type of guy, valuing getting a good eight hours of sleep each night, but there was no way he was leaving Emmett now. Not when the breakdown was coming.

“My dad is dead,” Emmett stated, his tone frighteningly casual as though he was talking about the weather, not losing a parent. 

“Em, I-” Aiden began, but then cut himself off, knowing everything that could be said in a moment like this would sound so meaningless to Emmett. If the words ‘I’m sorry’ passed his lips, Aiden knew Emmett wouldn’t be happy. “Em, I love you,” he said instead, rubbing his boyfriend’s back. 

Emmett only pressed his lips tightly together and nodded slowly. Aiden knew he had kept everything bottled for far too long and now it was time for everything to be let out. The breakdown started with a silent tear, just like always, which was then followed by a shaky sigh, cut off with a sob. Aiden pulled Emmett close as the sobs picked up and he decided to ignore the damp spot that was slowly growing with Emmett’s tears. 

“I’m here,” Aiden promised, rubbing his back. “I’ll always be here. I love you so much.” 

“I love you too,” Emmett replied through his sobs before further burying his face into Aiden’s shoulder. Aiden couldn’t even imagine the pain Emmett was experiencing -- he didn’t want to. Emmett had always been very close to his father and this undoubtedly was a harsh turn that no one deserved. Aiden himself had been fond of the man as it was he who encouraged their relationship in the first place. Aiden always turned to him when he needed someone to talk to that he could trust when he needed a break from his own parents. This certainly was a big loss for a lot of people, but for Emmett it was much more than that. 

Aiden lost track of how long he had been holding Emmett. After a few minutes, the sobs died down and turned into small sniffles which was then followed by complete silence. For a moment, Aiden counted his blessings and thought his boyfriend had actually fallen asleep. However, Emmett soon shifted and Aiden heard the indubitable sound of Emmett softly belching into his shoulder. It sounded wet and sick and Aiden certainly didn’t want to take any chances. As much as he loved Emmett, he didn’t want to be thrown up on. “Em?” Aiden began cautiously, still rubbing his back. “You feeling okay?” 

Emmett lifted his head off of Aiden’s shoulder slowly and the two locked eyes for a moment before Emmett belched again. Aiden could hear the liquid rising up Emmett’s throat and Emmett puffed out his cheeks, slapping a hand over his mouth. He quickly turned away and opened his mouth, a rush of liquid pouring out and hitting the grass with a nauseating sound. Aiden wasn’t surprised at all that Emmett had allowed all of this to build up to the point of making him sick to his stomach. After all, Emmett hadn’t really been taking good care of himself the past several days. Aiden didn’t dare bring all of that up now, so he instead began to rub Emmett’s back softly. “Let it out, Em. You can finally let it out, it’s okay.” 

Vomit was dripping from Emmett’s lips and nose and he wiped his face with the back of his hand, still staring at the grass, face pale and eyes watery. A guttural sound traveled from the depths of his belly and made its way up his throat, forcing him to burp up another mouthful of vomit. Aiden raked his fingers through Emmett’s sweaty brown hair, wishing there was something more he could do. 

The vomiting seemed to come to an end and Emmett sat back a few feet from the vomit, a hand resting on his belly. “I just threw up next to my dad’s grave,” he mumbled. 

“He understands,” Aiden reassured him, staying close. “He’s probably just as worried about you as I am.”

“I can’t believe I puked,” Emmett said softly, resting his head on Aiden’s shoulder. 

“I can. You haven’t been sleeping, you’ve changed your eating habits, and you’ve been stressed beyond belief. That stuff makes people nauseous and that’s okay, Em.” Emmett just nodded so Aiden took his hand and pressed a gentle, loving kiss to his sweaty forehead. “I’m going to bring you back to my house, okay? Then you can sleep for days and I can make you eat once your belly stops feeling so yucky.” 

Emmett nodded and offered a weak smile. “That sounds nice, thank you,” he said sincerely. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

 

Getting Emmett home was no easy feat; especially considering it seemed to be the last place he wanted to be. Emmett kept telling him that the house was full of memories of his father and reminders that his mom probably wouldn’t be around much anymore. Aiden hated to do it, but he managed to get Emmett back home despite the weak protests, knowing it couldn’t be avoided forever. Once there, he moved his boyfriend to his bedroom and laid him down on the bed being quick to slide in with him. 

“My head hurts,” Emmett complained weakly as he pressed both of his palms to his forehead and closed his eyes.

Aiden didn’t know how to respond for a moment because in the many years they had known each other, Emmett hardly ever complained. “It’ll get better,” he promised softly, stroking Emmett’s brown hair. He wasn’t talking about just the headache, either. 

“I know,” Emmett replied softly before letting his head fall on Aiden’s chest. “I just need some time.” 

Aiden nodded as he rubbed Emmett’s back up and down and pressed an occasional kiss to the top of his head. Very rarely did he ever need to help Emmett through emotional distress, so he wasn’t sure if he was doing it right. However, Emmett’s breathing settled a little and he felt his boyfriend begin to relax for the first time in what felt like weeks. “I’ll be here every step of the way, Em. You know I will. Get some rest, okay? Tomorrow I’m going to make you go on a walk with me.” Emmett made a small, sleepy noise of what Aiden took as agreement and within no time, he was asleep.

Aiden had never lost anyone like this before, so he wasn’t sure how helpful he was going to be during the grieving process. He knew the best he could do was keep Emmett busy, happy, and healthy, yet at the same time letting him break when he needed to. It wouldn’t be easy, but Aiden was ready.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! As always, my Tumblr is hold-my-hair-back . That's where you can see lots more.


End file.
